unit 03 example 04

Module 3 Unit 03

Timeline

  • 1900

    February 6th

    John Redmond elected leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP).

  • 1903

    August 14th

    Irish Land Act helps Irish tenants acquire land on generous terms.

  • 1904

    December

    The Abbey Theatre opens in Dublin.

  • 1905

    March 3rd

    The Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) holds its first official meeting in the Ulster Hall; the UUC will become the nucleus of the Ulster Unionist Party.

    November 28th

    “Sinn Féin” policy launched.

  • 1906

    January

    Liberals win general elections; they do not need IPP support to form a government.

  • 1907

    December 19th

    Joint Committee of the Unionist Associations of Ireland set up to facilitate cooperation between members of the Irish Unionist Alliance (southern organisation) and the UUC (the northern organisation) in their campaign, especially in Scotland and England.

  • 1908

    August 1st

    Old Age Pensions Act provides basic pension for over 70s.

  • 1909

    November 30th

    The House of Lords rejects the “People’s Budget”; this sparks the crisis that was to lead to the Parliament Act.

  • 1910

    January

    General election in UK; Asquith’s Liberals are the largest party; but the Irish nationalists hold balance of power.

    February 21st

    Sir Edward Carson chosen as leader of the Irish unionists at Westminster.

    December

    General election in UK; once again, Asquith’s Liberals are the largest party; once again, the Irish nationalists hold the balance of power.

  • 1911

    January 23rd

    Ulster Women’s Unionist Council set up; 40,000 members enrolled in the first year.

    January

    Unionist Clubs movement revived; rapid expansion over the coming months.

    August 18th

    Parliament Act abolishes Lords’ veto on bills passed in the Commons.

    September 23rd

    50,000 unionists march to a rally at Craigavon House, Graig’s private residence; contingents from the Orange Order and Unionists Clubs.

    November 13th

    Andrew Bonar Law, of Ulster descent, succeeds Balfour as leader of the Conservative Party.

    December 16th

    National Insurance Act gives workers protection in case of accident or illness and provides for unemployment and sickness benefit.

  • 1912

    Anti-Home Rule volunteers begin military training; small amounts of arms and ammunition continue to be smuggled into Ulster.

    Thomas Sinclair, “The Position of Ulster,” in S. Rosenberg (ed.), Against Home Rule, London & New York, published in 1912.

    February 1st

    Presbyterian Anti-Home Rule Convention.

    February 8th

    Winston Churchill addresses Home Rule meeting in Celtic Park, Belfast. Unionists protest at his visit.

    April 9th

    Huge meeting at the Agricultural Society’s show grounds in Balmoral; 200,000 unionists present; 70 English and Scottish MPs attend; the new Conservative leader, Andrew Bonar Law, addresses the meeting.

    April 11th

    The Liberal PM, Asquith, introduces Third Home Rule Bill in the Commons.

    May

    Liberal Unionists merge officially with the Conservatives.

    June 11th

    Agar-Robartes, MP, moves an amendment to Third Home Rule Bill suggesting the “exclusion” of the four counties with Protestant and unionist majorities: Antrim, Armagh, Down and Londonderry.

    June 13th

    Carson delivers speech on Agar-Robartes amendment in the House of Commons. (Amendment defeated, June 18th 320 against / 251 for.)

    Jun - Sept.

    Sectarian clashes in Belfast.

    September 10th

    Launch of the Young Citizen Volunteers in the Ulster Hall, Belfast.

    September 18th

    Enniskillen: first of several meetings across Ulster to prepare for Ulster Day slogan: “We will not have Home Rule!”.

    September 28th

    Ulster Day; Solemn League and Covenant signed across the province of Ulster; altogether, 471,414 people signed the Covenant.

    “The Blue Banner,” written by William Forbes Marshall appears in The Northern Whig.

  • 1913

    January 16th

    Third Reading of Third Home Rule Bill in Commons (367 for/257 against).

    January 30th

    Home Rule Bill defeated in Lords (326 against/69 for).

    January 31st

    Ulster Unionist Council decides the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF); the aim was to recruit, train and arm 100,000 men who had signed the Covenant.

    March 27th

    British League for the Support of Ulster and the Union formed in England; membership included MPs and peers.

    June

    Seizures of arms destined for UVF in Belfast and London.

    September 24th

    Ulster Unionist Council approves the setting up of a Provisional Government in Ulster if Home Rule became law; Carson was to be Chairman.

    October 24th

    Meeting of pro-Home Rule Protestants in Ballymoney.

    November 19th

    Irish Citizen Army (ICA) formed out of the trade union movement in Dublin.

    November 25th

    Irish Volunteers (a nationalist organisation) launched at a meeting in Dublin; it soon had 180,000 men enrolled.

    December 4th

    Ban on the importation of weapons into Ireland introduced.

  • 1914

    February

    Victory of unionist candidate at Leith Burghs (Edinburgh) by-election.

    March 4th

    British Covenant launched in the press; it stated that the signatories were “justified in taking or supporting any action […] to prevent [Home Rule] being put into operation”; two million people had signed it by the end of July.

    March 20th

    “Curragh incident”; 57 army officers, led by Brigadier General Gough, stationed at the Curragh threaten to resign if ordered north to force unionists to accept Home Rule.

    March 27th

    Bab M’Keen, “Amang oorsel’s”, Ballymena Observer.

    April 24th

    Colonel Frederick Crawford organises the UVF gun-running; 25,000 rifles and several million rounds of ammunition landed in Larne, Donaghadee and Bangor.

    May 2nd

    “Amazing night in Larne. Wholesale gun-running. Thousands of rifles landed,” Ballymena Weekly Telegraph.

    May 25th

    Home Rule Bill passes Commons for the third time.

    June 23rd

    Government of Ireland (Amendment) Bill presented to Lords provides for “temporary exclusion” (six years) of those Ulster counties that want to opt out of Home Rule.

    July 8th

    Government of Ireland (Amendment) Bill amended in Lords to provide for “permanent exclusion” of all of Ulster: unacceptable to the Commons.

    July 10th

    First official meeting of the Ulster Provisional Government.

    July 21st-24th

    The Buckingham Palace Conference fails to produce a compromise between nationalists and unionists on Ulster.

    July 26th

    Howth gun-running: Irish Volunteers land 1500 guns and ammunition.

    August 4th

    Britain declares war on Germany; First World War begins.

    August/September

    Recruitment to the 10th and 16th (Irish) Divisions.

    Recruitment to the 36th (Ulster) Division.

    September 18th

    Government of Ireland Act, 1914 passes; its operation is immediately suspended. 

    September 20th

    Redmond delivers speech at Woodenbridge (Wicklow) inviting the Irish Volunteers to join the British war effort.

  • 1915

    May 25th

    Carson becomes Attorney General for England in Asquith’s coalition war cabinet.

  • 1916

    April 24th

    The “Easter Rising” in Dublin involving a section of the Irish Volunteers and the ICA; Proclamation of the Republic. 

    June 12th

    UUC accepts government proposal for Home Rule with exclusion of the 6 north-eastern counties; the plan, however, was not implemented.

    July 1st

    Battle of the Somme.

    First day of the Somme Offensive; heavy losses to the 36th (Ulster) Division during their attack on German trenches at Thiepval, northern France.

    September 21st

    Article on Private Quigg V.C.: “Rescued seven wounded comrades. Thrilling Story of Bushmills Soldier's Heroism, Rescued seven wounded comrades. Thrilling Story of Bushmills Soldier's Heroism,” in Ballymoney Free Press and Northern Counties Advertiser.

    December 7th

    Lloyd George replaces Asquith as PM.

  • 1917

    January 25th

    Article on Private Quigg V.C. in Ballymoney Free Press.

    April 6th

    USA enters the war alongside UK and France against Germany.

    July 25th

    Irish Convention meets in Dublin; sits until April 1918; no compromise reached.

  • 1918

    February 6th

    Representation of the People Act gives the vote to all men over 21 and most women over 30.

    March 6th

    Redmond dies and is succeeded as leader of the nationalists by John Dillon.

    November 11th

    First World War ends.

    November

    Decision to construct a monument in northern France to commemorate “the gallant deeds of the Ulster Division”.

    December

    General election in UK; coalition government formed; in Ireland, Sinn Féin becomes dominant party, effectively eliminating the nationalists.

  • 1919

    January 18th

    Paris Peace Conference inaugural meeting.

    January 21st

    Two policemen are shot in Co. Tipperary; this is seen as the start of the War of Independence between the IRA and the British forces.

    February

    Letters from both Edward Carson and Rev. Park published in The report of the 30th Annual Meeting and Banquet of the Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Society.

Glossary
Third Home Rule Bill
example 04

Crawford

“A land where war and strife have been constant for almost three hundred years”

Published in 1947, just after the end of the Second World War, Fred Crawford’s, Guns for Ulster, gives his personal account of how he organised the smuggling and distribution of a large shipment of arms for the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1914. (1) The success of this operation sent an electric shock though Ireland and indeed the whole of the United Kingdom. 

It was first and foremost a message of defiance addressed to the Liberal Government. The gun-running strengthened the hand of the unionist leaders in Ulster, turning them overnight into a much more credible threat. They were now on the way to being able to put up effective resistance if the Government decided to attempt to “coerce” Ulster. However, since the incident at the Curragh a few days before (See Bab M’Keen article, “Things in General. Hame Rule in Parteeclar”), the idea that the Government might move against Ulster had become increasingly unlikely. 

It is interesting to see how Crawford goes out of his way in the Introduction to his book to underline his Ulster-Scots credentials. After giving a brief outline of the Plantation, he says:

From these settlers sprang a people, the Ulster-Scot, who have made themselves felt in the history of the British Empire and, in no small measure, in that of the United States of America. (Crawford, p5).

Indeed, it is as if he sees his activities as a gun-runner as being directly related to the experience of the Ulster-Scots community in Ireland, “liv[ing] and surviv[ing] for generation after generation in a land where war and strife have been constant for almost three hundred years.” (Crawford, p. 8) He underlines how his family has been rooted in Ulster since the earliest days of the Plantation and ties himself in to the Presbyterian tradition that is at the heart of so much Ulster-Scots experience: 

One of my ancestors, the Rev. Thomas Crawford, came from Kilbirnie in Scotland, and was buried at Donegore in County Antrim, in 1670. He married Janet, daughter of the Rev. Andrew Stewart, whose account of the early settlers has already been quoted. (Crawford, p. 8)

Their experience on this new “frontier” is clearly an on-going part of the way Crawford imagines the experience of his community over the years. 

(1)  Fred H. Crawford, Guns for Ulster, Belfast, 1947.

Module 3 Unit 03

Timeline

  • 1900

    February 6th

    John Redmond elected leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP).

  • 1903

    August 14th

    Irish Land Act helps Irish tenants acquire land on generous terms.

  • 1904

    December

    The Abbey Theatre opens in Dublin.

  • 1905

    March 3rd

    The Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) holds its first official meeting in the Ulster Hall; the UUC will become the nucleus of the Ulster Unionist Party.

    November 28th

    “Sinn Féin” policy launched.

  • 1906

    January

    Liberals win general elections; they do not need IPP support to form a government.

  • 1907

    December 19th

    Joint Committee of the Unionist Associations of Ireland set up to facilitate cooperation between members of the Irish Unionist Alliance (southern organisation) and the UUC (the northern organisation) in their campaign, especially in Scotland and England.

  • 1908

    August 1st

    Old Age Pensions Act provides basic pension for over 70s.

  • 1909

    November 30th

    The House of Lords rejects the “People’s Budget”; this sparks the crisis that was to lead to the Parliament Act.

  • 1910

    January

    General election in UK; Asquith’s Liberals are the largest party; but the Irish nationalists hold balance of power.

    February 21st

    Sir Edward Carson chosen as leader of the Irish unionists at Westminster.

    December

    General election in UK; once again, Asquith’s Liberals are the largest party; once again, the Irish nationalists hold the balance of power.

  • 1911

    January 23rd

    Ulster Women’s Unionist Council set up; 40,000 members enrolled in the first year.

    January

    Unionist Clubs movement revived; rapid expansion over the coming months.

    August 18th

    Parliament Act abolishes Lords’ veto on bills passed in the Commons.

    September 23rd

    50,000 unionists march to a rally at Craigavon House, Graig’s private residence; contingents from the Orange Order and Unionists Clubs.

    November 13th

    Andrew Bonar Law, of Ulster descent, succeeds Balfour as leader of the Conservative Party.

    December 16th

    National Insurance Act gives workers protection in case of accident or illness and provides for unemployment and sickness benefit.

  • 1912

    Anti-Home Rule volunteers begin military training; small amounts of arms and ammunition continue to be smuggled into Ulster.

    Thomas Sinclair, “The Position of Ulster,” in S. Rosenberg (ed.), Against Home Rule, London & New York, published in 1912.

    February 1st

    Presbyterian Anti-Home Rule Convention.

    February 8th

    Winston Churchill addresses Home Rule meeting in Celtic Park, Belfast. Unionists protest at his visit.

    April 9th

    Huge meeting at the Agricultural Society’s show grounds in Balmoral; 200,000 unionists present; 70 English and Scottish MPs attend; the new Conservative leader, Andrew Bonar Law, addresses the meeting.

    April 11th

    The Liberal PM, Asquith, introduces Third Home Rule Bill in the Commons.

    May

    Liberal Unionists merge officially with the Conservatives.

    June 11th

    Agar-Robartes, MP, moves an amendment to Third Home Rule Bill suggesting the “exclusion” of the four counties with Protestant and unionist majorities: Antrim, Armagh, Down and Londonderry.

    June 13th

    Carson delivers speech on Agar-Robartes amendment in the House of Commons. (Amendment defeated, June 18th 320 against / 251 for.)

    Jun - Sept.

    Sectarian clashes in Belfast.

    September 10th

    Launch of the Young Citizen Volunteers in the Ulster Hall, Belfast.

    September 18th

    Enniskillen: first of several meetings across Ulster to prepare for Ulster Day slogan: “We will not have Home Rule!”.

    September 28th

    Ulster Day; Solemn League and Covenant signed across the province of Ulster; altogether, 471,414 people signed the Covenant.

    “The Blue Banner,” written by William Forbes Marshall appears in The Northern Whig.

  • 1913

    January 16th

    Third Reading of Third Home Rule Bill in Commons (367 for/257 against).

    January 30th

    Home Rule Bill defeated in Lords (326 against/69 for).

    January 31st

    Ulster Unionist Council decides the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF); the aim was to recruit, train and arm 100,000 men who had signed the Covenant.

    March 27th

    British League for the Support of Ulster and the Union formed in England; membership included MPs and peers.

    June

    Seizures of arms destined for UVF in Belfast and London.

    September 24th

    Ulster Unionist Council approves the setting up of a Provisional Government in Ulster if Home Rule became law; Carson was to be Chairman.

    October 24th

    Meeting of pro-Home Rule Protestants in Ballymoney.

    November 19th

    Irish Citizen Army (ICA) formed out of the trade union movement in Dublin.

    November 25th

    Irish Volunteers (a nationalist organisation) launched at a meeting in Dublin; it soon had 180,000 men enrolled.

    December 4th

    Ban on the importation of weapons into Ireland introduced.

  • 1914

    February

    Victory of unionist candidate at Leith Burghs (Edinburgh) by-election.

    March 4th

    British Covenant launched in the press; it stated that the signatories were “justified in taking or supporting any action […] to prevent [Home Rule] being put into operation”; two million people had signed it by the end of July.

    March 20th

    “Curragh incident”; 57 army officers, led by Brigadier General Gough, stationed at the Curragh threaten to resign if ordered north to force unionists to accept Home Rule.

    March 27th

    Bab M’Keen, “Amang oorsel’s”, Ballymena Observer.

    April 24th

    Colonel Frederick Crawford organises the UVF gun-running; 25,000 rifles and several million rounds of ammunition landed in Larne, Donaghadee and Bangor.

    May 2nd

    “Amazing night in Larne. Wholesale gun-running. Thousands of rifles landed,” Ballymena Weekly Telegraph.

    May 25th

    Home Rule Bill passes Commons for the third time.

    June 23rd

    Government of Ireland (Amendment) Bill presented to Lords provides for “temporary exclusion” (six years) of those Ulster counties that want to opt out of Home Rule.

    July 8th

    Government of Ireland (Amendment) Bill amended in Lords to provide for “permanent exclusion” of all of Ulster: unacceptable to the Commons.

    July 10th

    First official meeting of the Ulster Provisional Government.

    July 21st-24th

    The Buckingham Palace Conference fails to produce a compromise between nationalists and unionists on Ulster.

    July 26th

    Howth gun-running: Irish Volunteers land 1500 guns and ammunition.

    August 4th

    Britain declares war on Germany; First World War begins.

    August/September

    Recruitment to the 10th and 16th (Irish) Divisions.

    Recruitment to the 36th (Ulster) Division.

    September 18th

    Government of Ireland Act, 1914 passes; its operation is immediately suspended. 

    September 20th

    Redmond delivers speech at Woodenbridge (Wicklow) inviting the Irish Volunteers to join the British war effort.

  • 1915

    May 25th

    Carson becomes Attorney General for England in Asquith’s coalition war cabinet.

  • 1916

    April 24th

    The “Easter Rising” in Dublin involving a section of the Irish Volunteers and the ICA; Proclamation of the Republic. 

    June 12th

    UUC accepts government proposal for Home Rule with exclusion of the 6 north-eastern counties; the plan, however, was not implemented.

    July 1st

    Battle of the Somme.

    First day of the Somme Offensive; heavy losses to the 36th (Ulster) Division during their attack on German trenches at Thiepval, northern France.

    September 21st

    Article on Private Quigg V.C.: “Rescued seven wounded comrades. Thrilling Story of Bushmills Soldier's Heroism, Rescued seven wounded comrades. Thrilling Story of Bushmills Soldier's Heroism,” in Ballymoney Free Press and Northern Counties Advertiser.

    December 7th

    Lloyd George replaces Asquith as PM.

  • 1917

    January 25th

    Article on Private Quigg V.C. in Ballymoney Free Press.

    April 6th

    USA enters the war alongside UK and France against Germany.

    July 25th

    Irish Convention meets in Dublin; sits until April 1918; no compromise reached.

  • 1918

    February 6th

    Representation of the People Act gives the vote to all men over 21 and most women over 30.

    March 6th

    Redmond dies and is succeeded as leader of the nationalists by John Dillon.

    November 11th

    First World War ends.

    November

    Decision to construct a monument in northern France to commemorate “the gallant deeds of the Ulster Division”.

    December

    General election in UK; coalition government formed; in Ireland, Sinn Féin becomes dominant party, effectively eliminating the nationalists.

  • 1919

    January 18th

    Paris Peace Conference inaugural meeting.

    January 21st

    Two policemen are shot in Co. Tipperary; this is seen as the start of the War of Independence between the IRA and the British forces.

    February

    Letters from both Edward Carson and Rev. Park published in The report of the 30th Annual Meeting and Banquet of the Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Society.

Glossary
Third Home Rule Bill
example 04

Crawford

“A land where war and strife have been constant for almost three hundred years”

It is this self-styled Ulster Scot who was the mastermind behind the secret purchase of the weapons for the UVF and their transport by ship from Germany to Larne. In his book, Crawford says it had been obvious to him from as early as 1892 that “our [i.e. unionist] resistance, to be successful, must eventually come to armed resistance.” He explains that he had been in contact with arms dealers in Germany and in London since 1906, organising small shipments of rifles, machine guns and ammunition on a regular basis to prepare the way for a major operation. What Crawford says about his commitment to physical force places him within a tradition going back to the Apprentice Boys in Londonderry, and, arguably, the United Irishmen who, in the words of the Ulster-Scots poet, James Campbell, were prepared to rebel against the governments of the day “to right some things that we thought wrang.”

However, it would be a mistake to think that Crawford was “just” a soldier. He explains how he had been actively involved in the unionist campaign in Britain as a speaker during the second Home Rule crisis, just after his return from Australia. It is obvious therefore that he had a very clear idea of the impact that his military preparations would have on public opinion. 

The newspapers in Ulster and across the United Kingdom were immediately filled with reports of the dramatic events at Larne, Donaghadee and Bangor on the night of the 24th April 1914. The following extract (1) is typical of the impact the event had not only on the political level but also in terms of what it shows about the way the unionist campaign was being projected into the popular imagination, at home, but especially among the broader British public. 

The night of Friday, 24th April, 1914, is a date that will find a permanent place on the page of history. On it there were enacted happenings for which Great Britain’s long and chequered story affords no parallel. However prosaically the record may be set down, it will send a thrill of amazement through every man and woman who reads the simple matter of fact account of what actually took place, and which the writer personally saw. 

On Friday night there were landed at Larne within a few hours 40.000 rifles and nearly three and half million rounds of ammunition. There was no rush or bustle in the doing of it. It was accomplished with celerity, yet without fuss or splutter, because it was done in pursuance of a well-formed plan, executed as perfectly as it had been preconceived. Thousands unconsciously played a part in it, though only a few hundreds were directly and immediately concerned in the actual work, or were cognisant of what was in progress. All the arms were landed at Larne Harbour, and a vast transport of hundreds of motor cars, lorries, and waggons drawn from their various centres came to the town. So exactly had this mobilisation been arranged that these hundreds of motors reached the assembly point at an identical moment. It was an amazing sight to see this huge procession of cars nearly three miles in length descending upon the town with all their headlights ablaze. 

The people flocked to their doors as the seemingly endless procession filed past in the direction of the harbour. […]

THE “MOUNTJOY” ARRIVES. 

In the neighbourhood of Larne Harbour and throughout the streets of the town strong bodies of men wearing armlets stood in line silent as soldiers on parade, while officers moved about and conversed in low tones. At nine o’clock the throb of an approaching steamer’s engines could be heard coming up the Lough; then masthead lights were discernible, and presently the grey, gaunt outline of the “mystery ship” took definite shape. In a few minutes she was alongside the landing stage and made fast to her moorings […]

SOME STRENUOUS WORK. 

The “mystery ship,” it was noticed bore on her bows the name Mountjoy—no doubt readers of Derry’s history will draw their own parallel. As she came alongside the lines of men in waiting on shore were divided up, part being assigned sentry duty at the gate approaches; while others were quickly aboard […] Hardly had the hatches been removed before bands of great sturdy fellows stripped to their shirts and pants plunged into the vitals of the ship to join the crew in getting her cargo ashore […] 

As each car received its complement, the driver accelerated his engine, let in his clutch, and slipped away in a cloud of smoke; while another moved into the vacant space and thus the work went hour after hour without pause. […]

(1) Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, May 2, 1914. Reprinted from Belfast Evening Telegraph, April 25, 1914.

IMAGE: "The Remarkable Gun-running by the Ulster Volunteers Landing Arms and Ammunition for Anti-Home Rulers", Illustrated London News, May 2nd, 1914.

Module 3 Unit 03

Timeline

  • 1900

    February 6th

    John Redmond elected leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP).

  • 1903

    August 14th

    Irish Land Act helps Irish tenants acquire land on generous terms.

  • 1904

    December

    The Abbey Theatre opens in Dublin.

  • 1905

    March 3rd

    The Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) holds its first official meeting in the Ulster Hall; the UUC will become the nucleus of the Ulster Unionist Party.

    November 28th

    “Sinn Féin” policy launched.

  • 1906

    January

    Liberals win general elections; they do not need IPP support to form a government.

  • 1907

    December 19th

    Joint Committee of the Unionist Associations of Ireland set up to facilitate cooperation between members of the Irish Unionist Alliance (southern organisation) and the UUC (the northern organisation) in their campaign, especially in Scotland and England.

  • 1908

    August 1st

    Old Age Pensions Act provides basic pension for over 70s.

  • 1909

    November 30th

    The House of Lords rejects the “People’s Budget”; this sparks the crisis that was to lead to the Parliament Act.

  • 1910

    January

    General election in UK; Asquith’s Liberals are the largest party; but the Irish nationalists hold balance of power.

    February 21st

    Sir Edward Carson chosen as leader of the Irish unionists at Westminster.

    December

    General election in UK; once again, Asquith’s Liberals are the largest party; once again, the Irish nationalists hold the balance of power.

  • 1911

    January 23rd

    Ulster Women’s Unionist Council set up; 40,000 members enrolled in the first year.

    January

    Unionist Clubs movement revived; rapid expansion over the coming months.

    August 18th

    Parliament Act abolishes Lords’ veto on bills passed in the Commons.

    September 23rd

    50,000 unionists march to a rally at Craigavon House, Graig’s private residence; contingents from the Orange Order and Unionists Clubs.

    November 13th

    Andrew Bonar Law, of Ulster descent, succeeds Balfour as leader of the Conservative Party.

    December 16th

    National Insurance Act gives workers protection in case of accident or illness and provides for unemployment and sickness benefit.

  • 1912

    Anti-Home Rule volunteers begin military training; small amounts of arms and ammunition continue to be smuggled into Ulster.

    Thomas Sinclair, “The Position of Ulster,” in S. Rosenberg (ed.), Against Home Rule, London & New York, published in 1912.

    February 1st

    Presbyterian Anti-Home Rule Convention.

    February 8th

    Winston Churchill addresses Home Rule meeting in Celtic Park, Belfast. Unionists protest at his visit.

    April 9th

    Huge meeting at the Agricultural Society’s show grounds in Balmoral; 200,000 unionists present; 70 English and Scottish MPs attend; the new Conservative leader, Andrew Bonar Law, addresses the meeting.

    April 11th

    The Liberal PM, Asquith, introduces Third Home Rule Bill in the Commons.

    May

    Liberal Unionists merge officially with the Conservatives.

    June 11th

    Agar-Robartes, MP, moves an amendment to Third Home Rule Bill suggesting the “exclusion” of the four counties with Protestant and unionist majorities: Antrim, Armagh, Down and Londonderry.

    June 13th

    Carson delivers speech on Agar-Robartes amendment in the House of Commons. (Amendment defeated, June 18th 320 against / 251 for.)

    Jun - Sept.

    Sectarian clashes in Belfast.

    September 10th

    Launch of the Young Citizen Volunteers in the Ulster Hall, Belfast.

    September 18th

    Enniskillen: first of several meetings across Ulster to prepare for Ulster Day slogan: “We will not have Home Rule!”.

    September 28th

    Ulster Day; Solemn League and Covenant signed across the province of Ulster; altogether, 471,414 people signed the Covenant.

    “The Blue Banner,” written by William Forbes Marshall appears in The Northern Whig.

  • 1913

    January 16th

    Third Reading of Third Home Rule Bill in Commons (367 for/257 against).

    January 30th

    Home Rule Bill defeated in Lords (326 against/69 for).

    January 31st

    Ulster Unionist Council decides the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF); the aim was to recruit, train and arm 100,000 men who had signed the Covenant.

    March 27th

    British League for the Support of Ulster and the Union formed in England; membership included MPs and peers.

    June

    Seizures of arms destined for UVF in Belfast and London.

    September 24th

    Ulster Unionist Council approves the setting up of a Provisional Government in Ulster if Home Rule became law; Carson was to be Chairman.

    October 24th

    Meeting of pro-Home Rule Protestants in Ballymoney.

    November 19th

    Irish Citizen Army (ICA) formed out of the trade union movement in Dublin.

    November 25th

    Irish Volunteers (a nationalist organisation) launched at a meeting in Dublin; it soon had 180,000 men enrolled.

    December 4th

    Ban on the importation of weapons into Ireland introduced.

  • 1914

    February

    Victory of unionist candidate at Leith Burghs (Edinburgh) by-election.

    March 4th

    British Covenant launched in the press; it stated that the signatories were “justified in taking or supporting any action […] to prevent [Home Rule] being put into operation”; two million people had signed it by the end of July.

    March 20th

    “Curragh incident”; 57 army officers, led by Brigadier General Gough, stationed at the Curragh threaten to resign if ordered north to force unionists to accept Home Rule.

    March 27th

    Bab M’Keen, “Amang oorsel’s”, Ballymena Observer.

    April 24th

    Colonel Frederick Crawford organises the UVF gun-running; 25,000 rifles and several million rounds of ammunition landed in Larne, Donaghadee and Bangor.

    May 2nd

    “Amazing night in Larne. Wholesale gun-running. Thousands of rifles landed,” Ballymena Weekly Telegraph.

    May 25th

    Home Rule Bill passes Commons for the third time.

    June 23rd

    Government of Ireland (Amendment) Bill presented to Lords provides for “temporary exclusion” (six years) of those Ulster counties that want to opt out of Home Rule.

    July 8th

    Government of Ireland (Amendment) Bill amended in Lords to provide for “permanent exclusion” of all of Ulster: unacceptable to the Commons.

    July 10th

    First official meeting of the Ulster Provisional Government.

    July 21st-24th

    The Buckingham Palace Conference fails to produce a compromise between nationalists and unionists on Ulster.

    July 26th

    Howth gun-running: Irish Volunteers land 1500 guns and ammunition.

    August 4th

    Britain declares war on Germany; First World War begins.

    August/September

    Recruitment to the 10th and 16th (Irish) Divisions.

    Recruitment to the 36th (Ulster) Division.

    September 18th

    Government of Ireland Act, 1914 passes; its operation is immediately suspended. 

    September 20th

    Redmond delivers speech at Woodenbridge (Wicklow) inviting the Irish Volunteers to join the British war effort.

  • 1915

    May 25th

    Carson becomes Attorney General for England in Asquith’s coalition war cabinet.

  • 1916

    April 24th

    The “Easter Rising” in Dublin involving a section of the Irish Volunteers and the ICA; Proclamation of the Republic. 

    June 12th

    UUC accepts government proposal for Home Rule with exclusion of the 6 north-eastern counties; the plan, however, was not implemented.

    July 1st

    Battle of the Somme.

    First day of the Somme Offensive; heavy losses to the 36th (Ulster) Division during their attack on German trenches at Thiepval, northern France.

    September 21st

    Article on Private Quigg V.C.: “Rescued seven wounded comrades. Thrilling Story of Bushmills Soldier's Heroism, Rescued seven wounded comrades. Thrilling Story of Bushmills Soldier's Heroism,” in Ballymoney Free Press and Northern Counties Advertiser.

    December 7th

    Lloyd George replaces Asquith as PM.

  • 1917

    January 25th

    Article on Private Quigg V.C. in Ballymoney Free Press.

    April 6th

    USA enters the war alongside UK and France against Germany.

    July 25th

    Irish Convention meets in Dublin; sits until April 1918; no compromise reached.

  • 1918

    February 6th

    Representation of the People Act gives the vote to all men over 21 and most women over 30.

    March 6th

    Redmond dies and is succeeded as leader of the nationalists by John Dillon.

    November 11th

    First World War ends.

    November

    Decision to construct a monument in northern France to commemorate “the gallant deeds of the Ulster Division”.

    December

    General election in UK; coalition government formed; in Ireland, Sinn Féin becomes dominant party, effectively eliminating the nationalists.

  • 1919

    January 18th

    Paris Peace Conference inaugural meeting.

    January 21st

    Two policemen are shot in Co. Tipperary; this is seen as the start of the War of Independence between the IRA and the British forces.

    February

    Letters from both Edward Carson and Rev. Park published in The report of the 30th Annual Meeting and Banquet of the Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Society.

Glossary
Third Home Rule Bill
example 04

Crawford

“A land where war and strife have been constant for almost three hundred years”

[NB: Frames noted in Module 2 are indicated in heavy print.] 

The preceding account is designed to be as dramatic as possible. The author, working for a Belfast newspaper, says that he was an eye-witness to the events described. He does not hesitate to say that “the night of Friday, 24th April, 1914” saw “happenings” that were without parallel in “Great Britain’s long and chequered story.” He talks of the “thrill of amazement” which he is sure his account will produce in his (presumably unionist) readers. 

The author begins by claiming that “40.000 rifles (1) and nearly three and half million rounds of ammunition” were landed “within a few hours.” Much of the remainder of the account is designed to get over the idea of the extraordinary organisation involved in the operation. This was “a well-formed plan, executed as perfectly it had been preconceived.” The “mobilisation” had been arranged “exactly.” The timing of every stage of the operation was perfect: “hundreds of motors reached the assembly point at an identical moment.” What is being described is a mechanism which has been conceived and executed with mechanical precision. The description, with its emphasis on solid preparation and military discipline, taps in to the images of the Ulster Scot not only as self-reliant and energetic organiser but also as determined fighter that are emerging in the literature of the period. When we read: “strong bodies of men wearing armlets stood in line silent as soldiers on parade, while officers moved about and conversed in low tones,” the only conclusion we can draw is that the unionist leadership - people like Crawford himself - are capable of mounting a major military operation and that they can clearly count on the discipline and obedience of their followers. Once again, the narrative is illustrating an idea that we noticed in Module 2 – the supposed social cohesion of the Ulster-Scots community that unites around a particular political project.

This has to be seen against the mockery to which the UVF had been exposed during the year or so that it had been in existence. The nationalist press and indeed the British Government had poked fun at these inexperienced, would-be soldiers parading through the streets with wooden rifles. The author, clearly in sympathy with the unionist cause, is keen to dispel this image of an inexperienced, undisciplined rabble. In its place, he paints a picture of a well-ordered body of men working together with clockwork precision in an open act of rebellion against the Government. 

This may explain why the author insists on the calm with which the operation is effected: “There was no rush or bustle in the doing of it. It was accomplished with celerity, yet without fuss or splutter.” Once again, these comments reinforce the idea that this is a disciplined, structured force, one that could be counted on to react well under pressure.  

(1) The figure was closer to 25,000 rifles. Reports at the time did not hesitate to exaggerate the numbers involved.

IMAGE: An artist’s impressions of the gun-running. Source: The Illustrated London News, May 2nd, 1914.

Module 3 Unit 03

Timeline

  • 1900

    February 6th

    John Redmond elected leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP).

  • 1903

    August 14th

    Irish Land Act helps Irish tenants acquire land on generous terms.

  • 1904

    December

    The Abbey Theatre opens in Dublin.

  • 1905

    March 3rd

    The Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) holds its first official meeting in the Ulster Hall; the UUC will become the nucleus of the Ulster Unionist Party.

    November 28th

    “Sinn Féin” policy launched.

  • 1906

    January

    Liberals win general elections; they do not need IPP support to form a government.

  • 1907

    December 19th

    Joint Committee of the Unionist Associations of Ireland set up to facilitate cooperation between members of the Irish Unionist Alliance (southern organisation) and the UUC (the northern organisation) in their campaign, especially in Scotland and England.

  • 1908

    August 1st

    Old Age Pensions Act provides basic pension for over 70s.

  • 1909

    November 30th

    The House of Lords rejects the “People’s Budget”; this sparks the crisis that was to lead to the Parliament Act.

  • 1910

    January

    General election in UK; Asquith’s Liberals are the largest party; but the Irish nationalists hold balance of power.

    February 21st

    Sir Edward Carson chosen as leader of the Irish unionists at Westminster.

    December

    General election in UK; once again, Asquith’s Liberals are the largest party; once again, the Irish nationalists hold the balance of power.

  • 1911

    January 23rd

    Ulster Women’s Unionist Council set up; 40,000 members enrolled in the first year.

    January

    Unionist Clubs movement revived; rapid expansion over the coming months.

    August 18th

    Parliament Act abolishes Lords’ veto on bills passed in the Commons.

    September 23rd

    50,000 unionists march to a rally at Craigavon House, Graig’s private residence; contingents from the Orange Order and Unionists Clubs.

    November 13th

    Andrew Bonar Law, of Ulster descent, succeeds Balfour as leader of the Conservative Party.

    December 16th

    National Insurance Act gives workers protection in case of accident or illness and provides for unemployment and sickness benefit.

  • 1912

    Anti-Home Rule volunteers begin military training; small amounts of arms and ammunition continue to be smuggled into Ulster.

    Thomas Sinclair, “The Position of Ulster,” in S. Rosenberg (ed.), Against Home Rule, London & New York, published in 1912.

    February 1st

    Presbyterian Anti-Home Rule Convention.

    February 8th

    Winston Churchill addresses Home Rule meeting in Celtic Park, Belfast. Unionists protest at his visit.

    April 9th

    Huge meeting at the Agricultural Society’s show grounds in Balmoral; 200,000 unionists present; 70 English and Scottish MPs attend; the new Conservative leader, Andrew Bonar Law, addresses the meeting.

    April 11th

    The Liberal PM, Asquith, introduces Third Home Rule Bill in the Commons.

    May

    Liberal Unionists merge officially with the Conservatives.

    June 11th

    Agar-Robartes, MP, moves an amendment to Third Home Rule Bill suggesting the “exclusion” of the four counties with Protestant and unionist majorities: Antrim, Armagh, Down and Londonderry.

    June 13th

    Carson delivers speech on Agar-Robartes amendment in the House of Commons. (Amendment defeated, June 18th 320 against / 251 for.)

    Jun - Sept.

    Sectarian clashes in Belfast.

    September 10th

    Launch of the Young Citizen Volunteers in the Ulster Hall, Belfast.

    September 18th

    Enniskillen: first of several meetings across Ulster to prepare for Ulster Day slogan: “We will not have Home Rule!”.

    September 28th

    Ulster Day; Solemn League and Covenant signed across the province of Ulster; altogether, 471,414 people signed the Covenant.

    “The Blue Banner,” written by William Forbes Marshall appears in The Northern Whig.

  • 1913

    January 16th

    Third Reading of Third Home Rule Bill in Commons (367 for/257 against).

    January 30th

    Home Rule Bill defeated in Lords (326 against/69 for).

    January 31st

    Ulster Unionist Council decides the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF); the aim was to recruit, train and arm 100,000 men who had signed the Covenant.

    March 27th

    British League for the Support of Ulster and the Union formed in England; membership included MPs and peers.

    June

    Seizures of arms destined for UVF in Belfast and London.

    September 24th

    Ulster Unionist Council approves the setting up of a Provisional Government in Ulster if Home Rule became law; Carson was to be Chairman.

    October 24th

    Meeting of pro-Home Rule Protestants in Ballymoney.

    November 19th

    Irish Citizen Army (ICA) formed out of the trade union movement in Dublin.

    November 25th

    Irish Volunteers (a nationalist organisation) launched at a meeting in Dublin; it soon had 180,000 men enrolled.

    December 4th

    Ban on the importation of weapons into Ireland introduced.

  • 1914

    February

    Victory of unionist candidate at Leith Burghs (Edinburgh) by-election.

    March 4th

    British Covenant launched in the press; it stated that the signatories were “justified in taking or supporting any action […] to prevent [Home Rule] being put into operation”; two million people had signed it by the end of July.

    March 20th

    “Curragh incident”; 57 army officers, led by Brigadier General Gough, stationed at the Curragh threaten to resign if ordered north to force unionists to accept Home Rule.

    March 27th

    Bab M’Keen, “Amang oorsel’s”, Ballymena Observer.

    April 24th

    Colonel Frederick Crawford organises the UVF gun-running; 25,000 rifles and several million rounds of ammunition landed in Larne, Donaghadee and Bangor.

    May 2nd

    “Amazing night in Larne. Wholesale gun-running. Thousands of rifles landed,” Ballymena Weekly Telegraph.

    May 25th

    Home Rule Bill passes Commons for the third time.

    June 23rd

    Government of Ireland (Amendment) Bill presented to Lords provides for “temporary exclusion” (six years) of those Ulster counties that want to opt out of Home Rule.

    July 8th

    Government of Ireland (Amendment) Bill amended in Lords to provide for “permanent exclusion” of all of Ulster: unacceptable to the Commons.

    July 10th

    First official meeting of the Ulster Provisional Government.

    July 21st-24th

    The Buckingham Palace Conference fails to produce a compromise between nationalists and unionists on Ulster.

    July 26th

    Howth gun-running: Irish Volunteers land 1500 guns and ammunition.

    August 4th

    Britain declares war on Germany; First World War begins.

    August/September

    Recruitment to the 10th and 16th (Irish) Divisions.

    Recruitment to the 36th (Ulster) Division.

    September 18th

    Government of Ireland Act, 1914 passes; its operation is immediately suspended. 

    September 20th

    Redmond delivers speech at Woodenbridge (Wicklow) inviting the Irish Volunteers to join the British war effort.

  • 1915

    May 25th

    Carson becomes Attorney General for England in Asquith’s coalition war cabinet.

  • 1916

    April 24th

    The “Easter Rising” in Dublin involving a section of the Irish Volunteers and the ICA; Proclamation of the Republic. 

    June 12th

    UUC accepts government proposal for Home Rule with exclusion of the 6 north-eastern counties; the plan, however, was not implemented.

    July 1st

    Battle of the Somme.

    First day of the Somme Offensive; heavy losses to the 36th (Ulster) Division during their attack on German trenches at Thiepval, northern France.

    September 21st

    Article on Private Quigg V.C.: “Rescued seven wounded comrades. Thrilling Story of Bushmills Soldier's Heroism, Rescued seven wounded comrades. Thrilling Story of Bushmills Soldier's Heroism,” in Ballymoney Free Press and Northern Counties Advertiser.

    December 7th

    Lloyd George replaces Asquith as PM.

  • 1917

    January 25th

    Article on Private Quigg V.C. in Ballymoney Free Press.

    April 6th

    USA enters the war alongside UK and France against Germany.

    July 25th

    Irish Convention meets in Dublin; sits until April 1918; no compromise reached.

  • 1918

    February 6th

    Representation of the People Act gives the vote to all men over 21 and most women over 30.

    March 6th

    Redmond dies and is succeeded as leader of the nationalists by John Dillon.

    November 11th

    First World War ends.

    November

    Decision to construct a monument in northern France to commemorate “the gallant deeds of the Ulster Division”.

    December

    General election in UK; coalition government formed; in Ireland, Sinn Féin becomes dominant party, effectively eliminating the nationalists.

  • 1919

    January 18th

    Paris Peace Conference inaugural meeting.

    January 21st

    Two policemen are shot in Co. Tipperary; this is seen as the start of the War of Independence between the IRA and the British forces.

    February

    Letters from both Edward Carson and Rev. Park published in The report of the 30th Annual Meeting and Banquet of the Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Society.

Glossary
Third Home Rule Bill
example 04

Crawford

“A land where war and strife have been constant for almost three hundred years”

[NB: Frames noted in Module 2 are indicated in heavy print.] 

The other aspect of the account has to do with the notion of scale. Numbers are very important. We have already seen that the operation allegedly landed “40.000 rifles and nearly three and half million rounds of ammunition.” If “thousands unconsciously played a part in it, […] a few hundreds were directly and immediately concerned in the actual work.” Once again, “[h]undreds of motor cars, lorries, and waggons” were involved, and the “huge procession of cars,” described at one point as “seemingly endless,” was “nearly three miles in length.” Everything in the account is designed to impress the reader with the extraordinary nature of the facts and figures involved. “It was an amazing sight to see” and indeed “the people flocked to their doors” to witness this spectacle. This is an essential part of the message of the event. The UVF and, behind them, the unionist authorities, were generating images which were going to mark the popular perception of the movement. The event was clearly as much a publicity stunt as it was a military operation. As such, it fitted in perfectly with their well-run unionist campaign.

The final part of the extract focuses on the historical references which underpin the operation. When the account talks of the “grey, gaunt outline of the ‘mystery ship’,” the tone comes close to that of a Richard Hannay adventure story by John Buchan. However, there is another, more important reference, located deep within a unionist reading of history. We discover that the ship transporting the arms into Ulster, The Clydevalley, had been renamed the Mountjoy II as it approached land. As the author points out, this is a reference to the ship that broke the boom on the Foyle, ensuring the relief of Londonderry after its long siege in 1689. The action of the UVF is therefore set alongside one of the key events in the Ulster Protestant and unionist imaginary. The arrival of the arms is being read as a form of liberation, and like the lifting of the siege, the first step towards what is clearly seen as a final victory.

The unionists had shown that they could mount a major operation involving secret international negotiations, complex smuggling arrangements and the organisation of an impressive clandestine distribution network. However, the operation was also about provocation and, above all, intimidation. In many ways, it was answering the Government’s threats of coercion in kind. The situation that the Government was faced with on the morning of the 25th April had changed radically. Coming so shortly after the incident at the Curragh, the publicity generated around the events at Larne, Donaghadee and Bangor was a serious setback to its plans. 

IMAGE: The Mountjoy sailing up the Foyle to relieve Londonderry, ending the Siege (July 28th, 1689).